1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking spit including a heat transfer arrangement for the cooking or roasting of foods, especially such as fowl or other types of meats, wherein the cooking spit is adapted to be rotated as a component of a rotisserie. More particularly, the invention is directed to the provision of a novel heat transfer structure incorporated into the cooking spit and which is adapted to provide a source of heat for assisting in internally cooking the food.
The utilization of cooking spits for the support of various types of food, especially fowl or poultry and meats during cooking or roasting thereof is well known and has been developed over many years, in fact dating back to ancient and even prehistoric times. Ordinarily, the food is exposed to a source of external heat while being rotated on the cooking spit so as to essentially uniformly distribute the cooking or roasting effect of the heat over the external surface of the food.
In recent years, based on economic reasons, there has been developed the concept of the rapid preparation of cooked foods, such as poultry or meats, especially in so-called highly-competitive fast food restaurants or quick service and take-out establishments, in which large quantities of prepared cooked foods, such as meats and poultry, and particularly chickens, are served to large numbers of customers within short periods of time. Consequently, the time constraints which are encountered in having to prepare and cook the chickens and meats require that the cooking times be reduced so as to be able to cook or roast in a more rapid and economically efficient manner, while concurrently taking cognizance of hygienic demands which necessitate that the foods be cooked through to an acceptable degree of doneness. For instances, governmental agencies promulgate directives and health-related regulations which are intended to regulate cooking aspects and also concern themselves with meat and poultry inspection, have a direct bearing on the retail sales of such cooked food items, especially with regard to chickens and other meats wherein an increased incidence of pathogenic bacteria cause contamination resulting in food-borne illnesses, and are of major concern in the food service industry.
The U.S. government has proposed changes in the manner in which meats and poultry (among other food items) are inspected to increase information concerning the growth of bacteria, and scientific measures employing new techniques and other safeguards are being implemented in order to be to able discover dangerous microbes and bacteria which have been appearing in meats and poultry at increased frequencies and which are deemed to be responsible for the deaths of many humans and are the cause of serious food-related illness.
Thus, the possibility of the presence of threatening contaminants; for instance, E-coli bacteria, mandate the implementation of safety procedures for the cooking and processing of various food products, and particularly readily contaminatable poultry, such as chicken. The bacterial contamination of chicken and meats, amongst other types of food items, can be readily counteracted if these particular food products are well cooked and rapidly cooled. It has been evidenced that many food service personnel, including restaurant owners and managers of fast food outlets, supermarkets and the like, are not fully aware that the inadequate cooking of chickens or meat may result in the presence of dangerous bacteria, and that well cooked or roasted meat or chicken products are basically the only guarantee of killing dangerous bacteria.
Pursuant to current regulations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture require that potentially hazardous foods, such as poultry and meats be cooked to a throughout degree of doneness of within about 170.degree. F. to 190.degree. F., inasmuch as heat-resistant bacteria which may be the cause of food poisoning can propagate up to temperatures of about 150.degree. F.
Although foods such as chickens or meats, when roasted, either in cooking installations, such as stationary ovens or rotisseries can evidence the desired degree of doneness about the exterior surface portions of the meat or chicken, quite often the center or interior portion of the meat or the cavity region of the chickens are only partially cooked or done to a degree which does not meet the required standards; in effect, 170.degree. F. to 190.degree. F. In an attempt to provide through-cooked poultry or meats, there have been developed sources of heat which will enhance the cooking of the internal or cavity portions of chickens and other poultry or fowl, or the center portions of meats, such as roasts, so as to meet the current food safety standards which have been or are being promulgated by various government regulatory agencies.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
For example, diverse types of heat-generating and transfer devices and arrangements have been developed in the technology concerned with the cooking or roasting of meat and poultry products, and such as chickens which are readily subject to high degrees of bacterial contamination, wherein the devices are adapted to provide an enhanced degree of heating and cooking to the interior portions of these food products so as to more closely conform to safety regulations affecting the health of consumers and concurrently shortening cooking times while maintaining the flavor and integrity of the cooked product.
Fraga, U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,980 discloses an apparatus for the cooking preparation of fowl or poultry wherein a heat transfer element which substantially conforms in shape with the cavity of the dressed fowl, when inserted into the cavity during the roasting or cooking of the fowl will provide a heat transfer surface contacting the interior surface of the fowl, which is adapted to cause the interior of the fowl to be initially seared to seal in the meat juices, and thereafter cooked to a desired degree of internal doneness.
Fraga, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,028, which is an improvement over Fraga, U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,980, discloses the internal heat transfer member, which conforms generally to the shape of the interior cavity of the fowl, to be of a hollow construction, and wherein the hollow of the member incorporates a further rod-shaped heating element including electrically-heated coils which are adapted to generate a higher degree of heat radiating outwardly so as to assist in the cooking or roasting of the interior portion of the meat or fowl.
Fraga, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,489 is also similar to Fraga, U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,980, and particularly relates to the shaped heat transfer member which conforms with the cavity of a fowl, such as a chicken or the like, and which is adapted to be rotated in the form of a cooking spit as a constituent of a rotisserie.
Jovanovic, U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,856 discloses a cooking apparatus including a rotary spit, having a gear-driven rotation-imparting apparatus in the form of a rotisserie, and wherein a fowl or chicken which is mounted on the rotating spit and impaled by forks is adapted to be slowly rotated while internal heat in the form of steam vapor is applied to the cavity of the chicken by means of a steam generating unit.
Riesselmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,273 discloses a rotisserie-type apparatus wherein a fowl or chicken is adapted to be mounted on a short cantilever-mounted spit and rotated so as to provide for more uniform heating throughout, particularly through the provision of a heater element which is electrically heated and inserted within a hollow rod of the spit mounting the chicken.
Collinucci, U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,010 discloses a cooking spit which has an electrically heated open-ended tabular portion, and wherein electrical coils are adapted to provide radiant heat for cooking the interior of a food product, such as a fowl.
Finally, Perez, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,379,118 and 2,835,480 disclose, respectively, either a baking rack with pin members arranged in an upstanding array within a roasting pin for baking potatoes or the like; or wherein a thermal pin is adapted to be inserted into roast meat arranged in roasting a pan of a cooking oven. In these particular instances, Perez '118 discloses the thermal pins to be of hollow construction including a sealed cavity having a vaporizable liquid therein, which may be, for example, water or Freon, and which will provide for heat transfer for either heating of the pins or imparting a cooling action when the temperature is lowered so as to allow for an enhanced temperature control over the interior of the food product mounted on the pins, with resultant reduction in cooking times.
Similarly, Perez, U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,480 discloses hollow thermal pins which include a fluid in a form of vaporizable liquid to impart heat transfer properties along the length of the pins and also for the cooling, as desired, depending upon hot or cold temperature conditions.
Although the foregoing apparatus and devices concern themselves to a considerable extent with the uniform cooking and controlled internal heating and/or cooling of food products, particularly such as meats or poultry, in the form of chickens or the like, and which allow for a higher degree of uniformity and more rapid cooking of the interior of the product, there is no disclosure of employing a vaporizable heat transfer fluid sealing contained in a hollow cooking spit which is adapted to form a rotatable constituent of a rotisserie, and wherein the vaporizable heat transfer fluid will provide for an enhanced degree of cooking of the interior of the chicken or meat which mounted on the cooking spit, and wherein the novel construction of the cooking spit with the therein contained vaporizable liquid facilitates the utilization of the cooking spit in numerous diverse facilities, and especially with regard to fast food operations.